Sunday, January 22, 2017

It would hardly be possible for me to put into words how much Our
Lady thinks of the Holy Rosary and of how she vastly prefers it to all
other devotions. Neither can I sufficiently express how highly she
rewards those who work to preach the devotion, to establish it and
spread it, nor on the other hand how firmly she punishes those who work
against it.

All during life, Saint Dominic had nothing more at heart than to
praise Our Lady, to preach her greatness and to inspire everybody to
honor her by saying Her Rosary. As a reward he received countless graces
from her; exercising her great power as Queen of Heaven she crowned his
labors with many miracles and prodigies. Almighty God always granted
him what he asked through Our Lady. The greatest honor of all was that
she helped him crush the Albigensian heresy and made him the founder and
patriarch of a great religious order.

As for Blessed Alan de la Roche who restored the devotion to the
Rosary, he received many privileges from Our Lady; she graciously
appeared to him several times to teach him how to work out his
salvation, to become a good priest and perfect religious, and how to
pattern himself on Our Lord.
He used to be horribly tempted and persecuted by devils, and then
deep sadness would fall upon him and sometimes he used to be near to
despair - but Our Lady always comforted him by her sweet presence which
banished the clouds of darkness from his soul.
She taught him how to say the Rosary, explaining its value and the
fruits to be gained by it and gave him a great and glorious privilege:
the honor of being called her new spouse. As a token of her chaste love
for him she placed a ring upon his finger and necklace made of her own
hair about his neck and gave him a Rosary.
Father Triteme, Cathagena and Martin of Navarre and others as well
have spoken of him in terms of the highest praise. Blessed Alan died at
Zunolle in Flanders September 8th, 1475, after having brought over one
hundred thousand people into the Confraternity.

Blessed
Thomas of Saint John was well known for his sermons on the Most Holy
Rosary, and the devil, jealous of the success he had with souls,
tortured him so much that he fell ill and was sick so long that the
doctors gave him up. One night when he really thought that he was dying,
the devil appeared to him in the most horrible form imaginable. There
was a picture of Our Lady near his bed; he looked at it and cried with
all his heart and soul and strength: "Help me, save me, my sweet, sweet
Mother!" No sooner had he said this than the picture seemed to come
alive and Our Lady put out her hand, took him by the arm and said:
"Do not be afraid, Thomas my son, here I am and I am going to save
you: get up now and go on preaching my Rosary as you used to do. I
promise to shield you from your enemies."
When Our Lady said this the devil fled and Blessed Thomas got up,
finding that he was in perfect health. He then thanked the Blessed
Mother with tears of joy. He resumed his Rosary apostolate and his
sermons were marvelously successful.

Our Lady blesses not only those who preach her Rosary, but she
highly rewards all those who get others to say it by their example.

Alphonsus, King of Leon and Galicia, very much wanted all his
servants to honor the Blessed Virgin by saying the Rosary. So he used to
hang a large rosary on his belt and always wore it, but unfortunately
never said it himself. Nevertheless his wearing it encouraged his
courtiers to say the Rosary very devoutly.
One day the King fell seriously ill and when he was given up for dead
he found himself, in a vision, before the judgment seat of Our Lord.
Many devils were there accusing him of all the sins he had committed and
Our Lord as Sovereign Judge was just about to condemn him to hell when
Our Lady appeared to intercede for him.
She called for a pair of scales and had his sins placed in one of the
balances whereas she put the rosary that he had always worn on the
other scale, together with all the Rosaries that had been said because
of his example. It was found that the Rosaries weighed more than his
sins.
Looking at him with great kindness Our Lady said: "As a reward for
this little honor that you paid me in wearing my Rosary, I have obtained
a great grace for you from my Son. Your life will be spared for a few
more years. See that you spend these years wisely, and do penance."
When the King regained consciousness he cried out: "Blessed be the
Rosary of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, by which I have been delivered from
eternal damnation!"
After he had recovered his health he spent the rest of his life in
spreading devotion to the Holy Rosary and said it faithfully every day.

People who love the Blessed Virgin ought to follow the example of
King Alphonsus and that of the saints whom I have mentioned so that they
too may win other souls for the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. They
will then receive great graces on earth and eternal life later on. "They
that explain me shall have life everlasting life."